Tampa Bay Buccaneers don’t need to look far for motivation
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers know what they are up against and motivation isn’t hard to come by in the NFC Championship Game against Green Bay.
Just days after overcoming the Saints, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are back in the limelight for different reasons. Against New Orleans, it was about overcoming an opponent that beat them twice in the regular season. Soon after the win, though, the narrative shifted to something entirely different for the NFC Championship Game.
Ahead of their bout against Green Bay, they are now hearing that cold weather doesn’t suit them well and how the past doesn’t matter — the past being their 38-10 win over the Packers in Week 6. In fact, according to the latest Super Bowl odds via CBS Sports, the Buccaneers are the longest shot to win the Big Game.
Per simulations, Green Bay is expected to win Super Bowl LV 50 percent of the time. Tampa Bay? A mere shade above 20 percent. What some would consider insurmountable odds perfectly describes the situation.
This doesn’t take into account that one of Tampa Bay’s best players in defensive tackle Vita Vea will return from an ankle injury that forced him to miss several weeks, including the first matchup against Green Bay. If that’s not motivation, then what is?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers don’t need to look for motivation; it’s staring them in the face.
The host site of Super Bowl LV is Raymond James Stadium, where the Bucs play their home games. They have an opportunity to play there. Yet, if they truly want to be there, they must look back at how the Minnesota Vikings blew a chance to play in the Super Bowl on their home field just three seasons ago. The team that beat them, the Philadelphia Eagles, went on to win the whole thing against, ironically, Brady and the Patriots.
Tampa Bay did go on the road in 2002 in the cold to beat Philadelphia in an NFC Championship Game but, as stated before, it’s about what they do now as opposed to their history.
It’s no longer a laughing matter, and head coach Bruce Arians warned the team of as much, to not think about the decorations or preparations the city is going through for Super Sunday or they will be watching from home.
Furthermore, the disappointment that would follow after making it this far and coming up short would be palpable. Given how the opportunities are scarce, a loss would certainly be the lowest point of the season.
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the lowest odds, the bulletin-board material from those who believe they can’t win in the cold and their head coach on a mission himself to right the wrong of his past conference championship shortcoming. But that could all amount to the right motivation to push Brady and the Bucs into the Super Bowl.